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You Heard It Here!

Yes, that’s right, I’ve finally come out of the closet. Not THAT closet! I’m talking about the BLOG closet. The plan is to post every 10 days starting the first of the month. Look at that… so far, right on schedule.

What will I/we be talking about, you ask?

Lots of things. Probably a lot of show business and even more about life. (Maybe a little about my books or writing as it pertains to life.)

The main regular feature I hope to be consistent with is Hollywood Story of the Month. At the beginning of each month, I’m going to name drop (unless I’m not comfortable dropping the name in which case I’ll just refer to the actor as “the actor”) and tell you one of the many stories I have from my (over) twenty years working in show business.

Seeing as how it’s the first of the month, I guess I better get cracking with my first story.

Hm… Where to start? I’ve already shared a ton of stories on different blogs so I’m sure some of these may be familiar. (Of course, I think they’re mostly Clooney stories and I can talk about him all day. LOL.)

You may have noticed that I already made a caveat about name-dropping and it’s because of this first story.

I was fresh out of school (The American Academy of Dramatic Arts) and had my first show biz job working as a page for KTTV. (Also known as Metro Media back then.) The job description varied depending on what show I worked on. For instance, when I worked on a talk show called Hour Magazine (hosted by the lovely Gary Collins) – wearing my gray and navy polyester suit – I escorted the talent to their dressing rooms as they arrived and picked up the dirty towels they left behind after they’d removed their makeup after the show. Other jobs included escorting the audience to their seating and working as a general eye during the show to make sure everything went smoothly as far as the audience was concerned. (Think security without the badge or gun.) And on some shows I worked as a stage PA, answering the stage phone and taking messages for the cast and crew. (That job also required picking up dirty towels at the end of the (shooting) day.)

On this one particular show, (which I really can’t name because then you’d be able to figure out who I’m talking about so… um… sorry. <G>) the actor playing the father had a very wicked sense of humor. Because I couldn’t leave until I’d collected all the towels and dropped them to be laundered, I used to loiter in the hallway and listen for the showers in the dressing rooms. Once the showers were done, I knew I only had a few minutes to wait to pick up those towels and head home. (Keep in mind that shoot days are long usually a minimum of 11 hours, so waiting around even longer for towels was not as enjoyable as it might sound. Also keep in mind that some actors liked to entertain in their dressing room at the end of the day if they had people visiting and I really didn’t want to wait around for that!)

Anyway, so I had heard the shower and knew this one actor would be done with his towels soon. (He was a guy, he was fast.) I gave him a few minutes and knocked on his door.

“Hi, it’s me, just checking if you’re done with your towels?”

“I’m done,” came his reply.

“Great, can I come in? Are you decent?” I ask.

“I’m decent,” he says.

I open the door and there he is standing in absolutely nothing with his arms spread wide. I back up and slam the door as he laughs at me. (Luckily, I was looking at his face so aside from realizing that he was completely naked, I didn’t see anything. Yay.)

“That is not decent!” I yell through the door.

He is still laughing. “You didn’t ask if I had clothes on.”

I can laugh about it now, but I was pretty angry back then. I think I even left his towel in the room so he had to use the same dirty one the next day of shooting. It was all a big joke to him, but I learned to ask the right question after that.

“DO YOU HAVE CLOTHES ON?”

The thing I learned very early on about most actors—mainly men—is that they don’t have a problem letting it all hang out. They’re used to stripping around wardrobe people so I think many don’t think twice about it. But I was very young and very green and this guy knew it.

Lesson learned on my part. It was the very beginning of a very fun road in Hollywood.

Thank you!! (I do hope you’re chasing him while he’s strolling in the buff. LOL.) I think I still need to pretty the place up a little. As a very good friend of mine said very recently… “Baby steps.” Thanks for being my first comment!!

I am so proud of you! Now I just need to follow your lead. As for the nudity, living alone I don’t think too much of it, but I am always AMAZED at the complete and utter lack of male propriety in regards to nudity. I think it has to do with them not having quite the same body image issues women have. Oh, they have body image issues, but not in the same way we do.

Hi Maria!
Thanks! (I’m still figuring this out.) Yes, I think (some) men definitely have different body issues than women. They don’t seem to be afraid of letting it all hang out. Literally. (Yes, you knew that was coming. LOL.) Thanks for dropping in! You rock!

I remember an actor frend in the early ninties telling me that everything had changed with the focus on sexual harrassment and that he missed the camaraderie of the good old days. He said it used to be fun to go to a shoot and slap some woman on the butt and tell her she was looking good. He said all that had stopped and people were not sure how to act or what they could say without fear of a law suit. Of course, me being all right and proper, said, “And rightly so.” : )

Hi Robena,
That is so true about the sexual harrassment issue. My story happened about 26 years ago. (Yikes!) I was flustered (and yes, a little angry), but I knew he only meant it as a joke. I don’t think he had any ulterior motives. LOL. And for the record, something similar happened on a different show, but that’s a story for another time! Thanks for the welcome!

Hi Beverly,
Yes, they can! That is the truth! LOL. Yeah, my sense of humor was long gone at that point. I just wanted to go home and after that I think I RAN home. LOL. Thanks for the welcome and for stopping in!

GREAT first post, Dee!! As you know, I used to produce large stage shows, and a number of them back in the 80’s were 50’s and 60’s artists. I had the same experience that you did when I went to get Lou Christie (“Lightning Strikes, “Two Faces Have I” – we’re talkin’ OLDIES here, LOL) from his dressing room. I knocked, and he also said he was “decent”. I learned the same thing that you did when I opened the door – that “decent” definitely means different things to people! And it wasn’t the last time that happened to me either – Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers and his wife were full-on nudists, and liked to run around that way back stage…YIKES! Needless to say, it created a bit of a “situation” for the other artists on the shows!!

Hi Julie!
What is it with guys and their pants (being off)? LOL. Bummer you had to go through it twice. I’m finding myself lucky it was only the one time. Well, kinda… but that’s another story. LOL. So glad you dropped by! Thanks for YOUR great stories!